So yesterday in Reno, Nevada in the midst of the all the Faith Forum controversy, Obama was still on the trail. I caught part of his town hall and remember noting to myself that he was going after McCain more forcefully, well the AP picked up on that also:
So much for hugging in church. A day after Barack Obama and John McCain exchanged an embrace during a faith forum at a California megachurch, Obama called the U.S. economy a disaster thanks to "John McCain's president, George W. Bush," and chided his Republican rival's campaign team for trying to make him look unpatriotic and weak.
You wanted him to be more forceful, indeed yesterday there were lots of people complaining about his lack of "being tough" and "going on offense" well, he's been on offense for a while now, and since he got to spend a week with his family, I fully expect him to be on fire all week.
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But Sunday, after praising the Arizona senator as a "genuine American patriot," the Democratic presidential hopeful got back to business _ methodically tearing into McCain's health care, tax and energy policies and criticizing his advisers.
"McCain says 'Here's my plan, I'm going to drill here, drill now which is something he only came up with two months ago when he started looking at polling," Obama said of McCain's energy policy.
We may not be seeing it because we pay attention 24/7 around here, but Obama is methodically tearing away McCain's maverick image. Saying that he's only supporting something because it polls well, shows that McCain is just another politician that is swayed by the polls instead of what's best for the country. The news that McCain wasn't in a "cone of silence" last night, and lied in a church when he implied that he was by joking that he was trying to hear through a wall when asked how that "cone of silence was" should also take away some of that mavericky shine. Unfortunately, this drill BS is a winning issue for McCain right now, so I hope Obama also puts more efforts into educating people about the fact that drilling will have no short term effect other than "psychological."
The Illinois senator also criticized McCain's advisers as "the same old folks that brought you George W. Bush. The same team." He noted many had been lobbyists in Washington before McCain asked them to sever all lobbying ties.
Obama added, "They say this other guy is unpatriotic, or this guy likes French people. That's what they said about Kerry," referring to the 2004 Democratic nominee who lost narrowly to Bush. "They try to make it out like Democrats aren't tough enough, aren't macho enough. It's the same strategy."
See? Obama DOES know what's going on, this is why we don't need to freak out. During the primaries we did the same "freak out" thing whenever the Clinton campaign did something unsavory, and we wanted Obama to hit back harder, and call her out, and he didn't. Yet he still won. The man has a strategy that's working. Of course, just because Obama can't hit back doesn't mean we can't keep hitting back HARD here on the Net, this is the new media, and as of right now we pretty much control it. So the Right Wing has the radio and FOX news, we have the Internet. Oh, and the McCain camp's weak response was that they weren't questioning Obama's patriotism. Well then how do you explain "Country first" and "he's willing to lose the war to win an election"? That sounds like questioning his patriotism to me.
Obama is also pointing out that McCain, for all his talk about getting rid of his lobbyists when Obama clinched the nomination, is STILL having his campaign run by them. Also, the McCain campaign went through all of that trouble to "get rid" of Phil Gramm, yet Gramm is STILL attending economics meetings with McCain and is probably for all intent and purposes STILL an adviser to the campaign.
Now the only thing I don't like was his emphatic defense of McCain's service, I think in a way he's been an enabler to the McCain campaign basically running on that record and nothing else.
Even so, Obama stepped to McCain's defense when a voter criticized his Vietnam era record. A Naval aviator, McCain spent 5- 1/2 years as a prisoner of war there after being shot down and badly wounded.
"Respectfully I'm going to disagree with you on McCain and his service," Obama said. "I think his service was honorable. He deserves respect."
I don't see McCain rushing to defend Obama's patriotism the way Obama is defending his service. But that's just how Obama rolls, he was the same way with Hillary. It's called humility. There are times I wish he wasn't quite so humble, but you have to pick your battles. . .
Also, I noted in watching yesterday's townhall that Obama was much more forceful in drawing contrasts with McCain and tying him the the failed policies of the current administration. He is not playing around anymore. There were a couple of times he specifically called McCain out, for things like not voting for fuel efficiency while he was in Congress, while simultaneously claiming that he's always supported stuff like that on the trail.
I'm excited to see today's townhalls, I like this "new" Obama, although somehow I think this was all part of the plan from the beginning. He is pushing back and he is going after McCain, but Obama's style is more finesse than brash and in your face. I think right now he's just enjoying tap dancing on the nerves of the McCain campaign
And here are more pics for your viewing pleasure:
He also visited a diner while he was there:
While McCain is running negative ads, Obama is meeting the people, which I think he enjoys more and actually has a bigger impact in the area.
BTW, the pics are from Getty Images, and the AP :o)
Update: His Opening remarks
Please Digg the video if you are so inclined :o)
Note:
--> He hit McCain on Gramm's "mental recession" comment
--> He hit Bush on the economy and the fact that incomes for middle income families have gone down $1,000 while the rich got richer
--> He once again demonstrates knowledge of the concerns of the average person, and even sounds like he did in his 2004 DNC speech. (which they replayed twice on CSPAN yesterday, this guy is remarkably consistent in his beliefs on this front)
--> He hit McCain on taxes points out that his plan will provide tax cuts to 95% of the American people, while under McCain's plan, you get a half a million in rebates if you make around 2.8 million. Points out that he benefits the middle class and working families, and McCain benefits the same corporations that have been "making out like bandits" under Bush.
--> Hits McCain on health care, points out that McCain's plan include eliminating the tax deduction for employers, he includes a $5,000 tax credit, but plans cost the average family $12,000, and because of his policy employers will be more likely to get rid of health care. Points out that Bush has the same policy
--> Hits McCain on energy, and the fact that he's lying about additional drilling bringing relief because we only have 3% of the oil in the world while we use 25% of the world's oil.
--> Basically says McCain is LYING, and he's telling the truth. The choice is between someone who's going to tell you the truth, and someone who's going to play the same "tired" political games that have done gotten us into this mess. Republicans don't have anything positive to say about what THEY are going to do, instead they try to smear their opponents.
--> "I've got news for John McCain, MY plan isn't going to bring about economic disaster, we already have economic disaster from JOHN MCCAIN'S PRESIDENT--GEORGE W. BUSH, and we can't afford another four years or eight years of George W. bush policies, and that's why we are going to BEAT John McCain in this election to put America on a new path!"
--> Points out that McCain's campaign is trying to make the campaign about him because the issues aren't on their side.
UPDATE #2: The campaign put out the following statement:
"The old John McCain wouldn’t have allowed one of Jack Abramoff’s top cronies to raise money for him. But this time around, it’s clear that Senator McCain is willing to do whatever it takes to win–even if that means embracing President Bush’s policies, his tactics, and now his disgraced fundraisers. The American people want a real change, not the same old Washington politics that Jack Abramoff and Ralph Reed perfected," said Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor.
Over the last couple of weeks, there have been so many controversies swirling around John McCain’s connections to lobbyists that we wanted to offer you the following summary of the press coverage of the stories to help you follow the lobbyist money.
(all emphasis is mine) The memo goes on to hit McCain's lobbyist ties to the Oil Industry, DHL, and The Internet (net neturality). Click the link above to read the full memo.
UPDATE #3: From Politico (h/t fhamme):
Obama, who has notably sharpened his jabs at John McCain since he returned to the campaign trail this week, took aim today at John McCain’s crack during a Saturday forum that $5 million is the line between middle class and rich, my colleague Ken Vogel reports from Albuquerque, N.M.
"Maybe he was joking," Obama said at the town hall this morning in a library, joking that by McCain’s standards, making $3 million must mean you’re "middle class."
Obama continued that McCain’s skewed idea of wealth "is reflected in his policies."
Here's the McCain comment to which Obama was referring, which occurred at a forum with Pastor Rick Warren at his Saddleback Church:
WARREN: Everybody talks about, you know, taxing the rich, but not the poor, the middle class. At what point, give me a number, give me a specific number. Where do you move from middle class to rich? [...]
MCCAIN: How about $5 million? No, but seriously, I don’t think you can, I don’t think seriously that the point is I’m trying to make, seriously, and I’m sure that comment will be distorted but the point is...that we want to keep people’s taxes low, and increase revenues. ... So, it doesn’t matter really what my definition of rich is because I don’t want to raise anybody’s taxes. I really don’t.
Funny that Obama should say maybe he was joking since an article on the Huffington Post points out that McCain is using the fact that his jokes usually suck as a way to cover up all of his "gaffes":
This week, the humor crutch is being leaned on again. As initial reports out of the Rick Warren's Saddleback Forum made note of McCain's definition of "the rich" as those who earn more than $5 million in annual salary, we're now told the key to understanding the candidate's answer to a serious question is that he was only joking.
Hilarious as all these japes are, is it too much to suggest that the McCain campaign's continuing reliance on them falls afoul of the "straight talk" motto? After all, isn't it the job of presidential candidates to quit messing around at some point and actually deliver serious answers?
Looks like the joke is about to be on McCain. Finally people are starting to realize that McCain doesn't give any real ANSWERS when asked about his policy. Between Phil Gramm being his economic policy architect, and his obvious disconnect with the average people, Obama has PLENTY of material to hit McCain with.
UPDATE #4: Camp O sent out a memo today asking whether McCain was a "woman problem" they point out:
62% of women believe that Roe v. Wade established a constitutional right. In fact, 14% more of independent women support Barack Obama after hearing about McCain and Obama’s positions on choice, and McCain’s support among Republican pro-choice women drops by 9% after hearing these positions.
I bet he lost more with his whole "I am pro-life and my policies will be pro-life" spiel at the forum on Saturday.
They also pointed out that McCain's efforts to woo women voters is falling flat. In fact, he's doing worse than Bob Dole among women right now:
Despite his campaign’s outreach efforts, McCain’s attempt to bridge the gender gap has fallen flat. He fares worse among women than any presidential candidate since Bob Dole in 1996. In the August 13 Pew Poll, Obama holds a 51-38 lead among women over McCain. In the August TK Time Magazine poll, Obama leads 49-39. McCain’s share of the women’s vote is considerably below the 48% George W. Bush won in 2004 or the 43% he earned in 2000. Indeed, if McCain dips even a little, he is at risk of falling below Bob Dole’s 38% share of women’s vote in 1996, which is the lowest share of any major part candidate in the last 36 years. More than half the female electorate (53%) holds mostly positive views of Obama, while only 37% feel mostly favorable toward McCain.
The memo goes on to lay out Obama's position, and McCain's position "in his own words" It's worth a read, and honestly could fill it's own diary, so anyone reading this who agrees is more than welcome to write one, and I'll link to you here.